All it took was three minutes for Uzbekistan to take a pinprick and burst the balloon under which Indian football was operating going into this clash. There was an assumption that the toughest team in their group was well behind them and that it was now time to play football sans fear. Instead, India got an Uzbekistan team that’s easily one of the top 6 teams in Asia, quite markedly better than Australia, and one that scored three goals in the first half itself to quell any hopes that the Southeast Asians had of making this a fight.
And that fight disappeared from India rather quickly – a slow looping ball into the edge of the Indian box was not cleared as it should have, a mere three minutes into the game. And even if it wasn’t cleared, Sandesh Jhingan was caught staring at the path of the ball inside his box while Abbosbek Fayzullaev looped a header over goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu for Uzbekistan’s first goal. Three minutes in and India were already behind.
While it was clear that the Indians were taking their time warming up, it was also quite evident that even the best-suited team was going to be no match for the Uzbeks. It wasn’t that they were an extraordinary team, but rather one that fulfilled their fundamentals soundly. Not once did Uzbekistan have to take their legs out of second gear, such was their dominance against the Indians.
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0️⃣ – 3️⃣#AsianCup2023 #HayyaAsia pic.twitter.com/Z6c0eQu0tL— AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 (@Qatar2023en) January 18, 2024
In the 18th minute, they doubled their advantage, once again more in part due to Indian errors rather than Uzbek ingenuity. Defender Rahul Bheke, with no one other than Gurpreet Singh Sandhu behind him and acres of space, decided to try and dribble the ball between two Uzbek forwards. The move was hopeful and hope was extinguished rather abruptly. It was Fayzullaev yet again, who received the ball with space to run into, a task he carried out dutifully. His resultant low cutback didn’t find anyone but left-back Akash Mishra’s clearance hit the post and landed flush in the path of Igor Sergeev, who found himself with no Indian midfielder tracking him back and the easiest of international goals he would ever stumble upon.
After that second goal, India attempted to make some damage limiting moves, like passing within their defence and not letting the ball past the midfield. On the odd occasion that occurred, they were sent scurrying back by wave upon wave of Uzbek players who kept waiting for a reply or two to come their way when none would ever arrive.
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And right as the half was about to come to a close, a third goal came. It was a routine Farrukh Sayfiev cross – one that most teams would have cleared with ease. But instead India were caught napping again, this time Nikhil Poojary not marking his man appropriately and paying the price for it as Sherzod Nasrullaev pounced on the ball. His first connection hit the post but then the rebound fell kindly to him and the tap-in was yet another easy international goal handed to the Uzbek left-back.
The second half saw India try to continue doing what they had after the second goal had gone in. More swathes of possession with little to offer going forwards. The introduction of winger Rahul KP would immediately see a shot hit the crossbar for the Indians. Skipper Sunil Chhetri got a couple of golden opportunities but failed to even direct the ball goalwards. Mahesh Naorem had a wonderful strike dart through a maze of Uzbek players before safely being collected by their custodian Utkir Yusupov. But other than those measly opportunities, India watched and succumbed to their second successive defeat of the Asian Cup 2023.
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They next face Syria with an outside chance of qualifying for the Round of 16. It would require a win and a host of results to go in their favour – an act of luck and kindness that simply doesn’t track with the national team.
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